By Camron Wright

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Let’s Be Five is a story about reflecting on the first semester of college and having to make the decision to be your own person.

“Playtime is over, lay down,” I say. 

She jumps on the bed trying to reach the popcorn ceiling. How did this jellybean child gain more energy? Maybe if I say it with more authority she will listen. I add bass to my voice. 

“Layla Lewis, go to sleep! Don’t make me count to ten!”

She jumps higher and faster. I look around at my old ballet pink bedroom walls with golden crown stickers that make the room hers. I try to remember all the times I played here by myself. I want to remember the last time I was happy enough to smile and laugh as hard as Layla does. Those moments don’t last forever. I should let her have this but I need a break. 

“One,”

“Two!” she says. 

“No, that’s not how,” I start to say. 

I don’t know how I expect the rest of the world to listen to me if my younger sister is not fazed by my authority. 

“Layla, I wanna go to sleep. Please lay down,” 

“One hundred more minutes!” she says. 

“Jump with me, Kyra! Pleaseeeee! Pleaseeeee!”

I lay my head against the white headboard and exhale so deep that Layla giggles.

“You sound like an elephant. PPPPHHHFFFF!”

Layla squeals as her feet inch toward my legs as she jumps. Not only is she ignoring me, but now she is mocking my existence. 

My first spring break from college has turned into a free babysitting service. My parents need to come home from their so-called date night and deal with their child. The sooner they come, the more time I have to watch Netflix in peace. I lay on the pink princess comforter and close my eyes to pretend I am sleeping, maybe she will take the hint. 

“Kyra!” she says. 

I feel the springs jolt as those kindergarten feet come closer. Then they suddenly stop. I guess I won. I open my eyes to a stubby little finger about to touch my nose. She jumps to her feet and screams as if she is trying to awake the dead. Finding a new rhythm at the end of the bed as she continues her antics. I have one option left that I regret thinking about already.

“Let’s play a game,” I say. 

“GAME!”  

She gains excitement while her feet are off the ground. Her pink silk bonnet flies up and her tiny body in the Cinderella Blue nightgown hits the twin mattress. Why didn’t I try this twenty minutes ago? 

“Candyland!”

“No, we are playing Dreamland!” I say. 

For the first time in my life, a kindergardener rolls their eyes at me. I know it won’t be the last time this week.  

“Close your eyes. Tight enough so the bad dreams won’t sneak in,”  I say.

Surprisingly, she listens. Layla crosses her legs and places her hands in her lap. She takes being a princess a little too seriously. 

“Here’s how you play. I say one sentence and then you say two sentences after me, okay? But your eyes have to be closed the whole time,” I say.

Layla’s bonnet shakes up and down in agreement. 

I close my eyes putting myself in Layla’s world: 

Once there was a dragon who lived in the tallest castle in the world.

He had orange scales, blue teeth, and breathed green fire every time he talked. 

He was a friendly dragon that wanted to protect the princess but he was bad at his job.

The dragon would not let the princess do anything she wanted.

She wanted to eat cake and the dragon said no. She wanted to jump on the bed and the dragon said no again. 

She wanted to change her major and the dragon said no. 

But the princess did not care. 

She wanted to have fun because princesses do whatever they want.

So the princess ran from the dragon. 

I look at Layla as she skips my turn. It didn’t matter because her eyes were still closed. I low key want to see where she is going with this. As she continues her voice becomes quieter. 

One night when the dragon was sleeping the princess threw a birthday party. With balloons and a bouncy house and presents. She invited all the princesses. Then the dragon woke up while they were singing and then he started to breathe fire. But the princess told him no and then…..

“What happened next?” I say. 

I open my eyes to Layla’s body slumped over by my side. I should poke her just to make sure she is sleeping but I don’t want to risk it. I angle my feet towards the beige carpet getting ready to stand, although I want to be in Layla’s world for a few seconds longer. I stand anyway and take the blanket from the foot of the bed to cover her. She always says that she gets cold at night. I turn out the lights and exit the Princess’ room.

Process

This story started off as an experiment for class. I was tasked to write a story with a happy ending and where the characters have an opportunity to grow. For this story I learned the importance of formatting and dialogue to tell a story within a story. My mentor Olivia helped me out a lot with how to edit this piece for the audience to understand the difference in each character’s voice.